Chapter 2
LAYLA
With our suitcases open on our beds and our living quarters slowly taking shape, Hanna and I unpacked and got our things ready for class to start tomorrow. It was just the two of us in here so far, but there were four more bunk beds that might or might not be full by the end of the day.
I was brimming with excitement, but Hanna, my classmate and best friend, was already taping a calendar to the inside lid of her suitcase. When I spotted it, I stopped what I was doing and frowned as I drifted over to her.
“Are you really counting down the days until we’re done? We haven’t even started yet.”
She shrugged, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder as she glanced up at me. “I know, but it’s so satisfactory to cross off the days that I decided to start as soon as possible.”
I sighed, holding my uniform closer to my chest instead of continuing to hang it on the hook like I’d been about to. “How are you not excited to get started on this next leg of our training? We’re finally getting into the practical stuff. It’s going to be amazing.”
“You’re only saying that because you’ve been looking forward to this your whole life. I don’t actually want to be here, remember?”
“I know, but you’re here now. Why not make the best of it?”
She arched a brow at me, her heavily made-up eyes flashing with a mix of anger and boredom as she shook her head. “It’s a principle thing. I’m not making the best of it because then my parents will think they did the right thing by forcing me into it.”
“Have you ever thought that maybe they did do the right thing?” I reasoned gently. “They only forced you into it because you’re their wild child, but you’re doing pretty well. And you met me. That has to count for something, right?”
She tried to keep the pissed-off look on her face for another minute but failed miserably when she started laughing and tossed a wadded-up pair of panties from her bag at me.
“Fine, you’ve got me there. Meeting you is the only thing that has kept me sane, but I’m still angry at them.
I don’t want to be part of the Coast Guard.
I get that you do, but you were literally born for this. I wasn’t.”
“You might’ve been,” I said after dodging the panties with a neat, quick sidestep. “How will you know unless you give it a real chance? Also, those are clean, right?”
“Ew, of course they’re clean,” she said. Then her laughter subsided and she got off her bed again. “Honestly, I’m trying to give it a chance, but I’m just not feeling it.”
“Maybe you will now that we’re going to be getting our hands dirty,” I said hopefully, finally hanging up the uniform I had to wear in the morning.
“Do you know how many great stories my dad has from his days here? A lot. He met a ton of the guys he’s still friends with and who he rose up the ranks with, and he said they had fun while getting their asses kicked by the instructors. ”
“I hate to break it to you, hon, but your dad’s a man. We are not going to have the same experiences he did.”
“Why not?”
She rolled her eyes, then gave me an exasperated smile as she waved a hand around the dorm. “There aren’t many girls in here with us, are there? I don’t even know if there are going to be any other girls in our class. On the plus side, that means the guys only have us to hit on.”
“How is that a plus?” I scoffed. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested in any of that. I realize that it comes with the territory to get hit on, but I’m not here to get a date. I’m not giving in, no matter who takes their shot.”
“You might not, but I don’t know if I’m going to follow your example. If the guy is hot, he may get lucky with me. I don’t know. Have you seen any of them yet?”
“Nope, and I don’t care what they look like. We could be in a class of male models and I still won’t give in. There are consequences to getting caught sleeping together, you know? No hookup is worth the drama.”
“I just won’t get caught then,” she said easily. “The grounds are big and there’s more to Pensacola than just the Station. I bet there are even a few motels within spitting distance from here. As long as you’re smart about it, there’s no way you’d get caught.”
“Around here, someone always knows,” I warned her. “Plus, even if it’s not the powers that be that find out, the other guys in our class definitely will. You don’t want that reputation following you around either.”
“I lost my reputation when I turned sixteen and it hasn’t been seen since,” she joked. “Seriously, though, we need to find a way to have some fun around here. They’re going to be riding us pretty hard from what I’ve heard. If you don’t blow off some steam at some point, you’ll never make it.”
“Sure, you will. As long as it’s only the instructors riding us hard and we don’t start riding our classmates hard in a whole different way, we’ll be okay. We just need to hit the sack early, alone, and make sure that we eat well.”
“Oh, so you want an instructor to ride you hard?” she teased. “I get it now. You’re not interested in our classmates because you’re aiming higher. Good on you, girl.”
I groaned out loud, rubbing my palm over my face before I abandoned my unpacking to glare at her. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
Lying back down on her bed, she hooked her arms behind her head and put her legs on top of her suitcase as she smirked at me. “You don’t have to lie to me, girl. I know what you’re saying. Some older, more experienced dick?—”
I raced forward to clamp my hand over her mouth before she could even complete her sentence.
As I did, I narrowed my eyes, giving her a meaningful look and lowering my voice to a whisper.
“Don’t even joke about that. Getting involved with someone in your chain of command could get you, and them, kicked out.
Please don’t start any rumors before we’ve even had our first class. ”
She held her hands up in surrender, then sighed when I finally moved my hand away from her mouth.
“Stop freaking out, babe. I wasn’t starting any rumors.
I just happen to think you’re onto something.
If our instructors are hot, why not let them teach us a few different moves while they’re instructing us?
At the very least, they’ll have more to lose than we do if it gets out.
It’s as close as you’re going to get to a guarantee that he’ll keep his mouth shut about it. ”
“No one will have to keep their mouths shut about anything if we just follow the rules,” I said. “Are you forgetting that my father was an instructor here? You seem to think we’re going to get someone hot, but they’re old, mostly married, and as unavailable as they are uninterested.”
“No,” she said with a teasing smile on her lips. “Your dad might’ve been all that, but he’s retired. We don’t know who they got in his place. It could be a much younger, much hotter guy, in which case, since you mentioned it first, I’ll let you have first dibs on him. I’m a good friend, right?”
“You’re a friend who’s going to get both of us in trouble if you keep talking like this,” I muttered, glancing at our closed door.
Mercifully, we hadn’t left it open. If we had, I didn’t doubt that we’d already have been getting yelled at in a superior’s office just for having this conversation.
“It doesn’t matter who they got to replace him.
The instructors are all much older. They’re not going to let some young guy who doesn’t have enough experience train other people. ”
I actually didn’t know if that was true. Theoretically, I knew what was required to become an instructor and I couldn’t imagine someone achieving all that before they were quite a lot older than we were, but I didn’t know for a fact that none of our instructors were youngish.
I’d never even thought to ask because it didn’t matter. Their looks and age had no bearing on our training or their ability to teach us. Whoever our instructor was, they would have to be a Search-and-Rescue rock star in their own right to have been given the job.
The only thing I was interested in was becoming one of those myself. Nothing more, nothing less. I’d come here with a point to prove and a passion to make into a living. That was what I was here for.
As if he’d heard the thoughts and decided to rain on my parade, my father called at that very moment. I sighed when I saw his name on my screen, but I grabbed the phone anyway, standing up a little straighter even though I knew he couldn’t see me.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Layla,” he said briskly. “Are you settling in alright? Your mother is already worried about you.”
“I’m fine, sir,” I said.
He sighed, but if he didn’t want me to call him sir, then he had to not speak to me in that clipped, authoritative tone of voice. I couldn’t help it when he spoke to me like that. It was like I automatically reverted to my default setting.
“Have you got everything ready for tomorrow?” he asked, a little gentler now. “If you need anything, Mom and I can?—”
“I’m fine, Dad. Really. Hanna and I are unpacking now. I’ve already hung up my uniform and I was just about to hit the shower. After that, we’re going to go grab a bite to eat and crawl straight into bed.”
“Good to hear it,” he murmured. “Okay, baby. Good luck tomorrow. I’ll be waiting to hear how you’re doing. You know you need to get through this class no matter what, right?”
“Of course.” I waited for him to tell me he was proud of me for even making it this far, but it never came.
Instead, he simply said good night and hung up. As soon as I tossed my phone down on my bed, I squeezed my eyes shut and ran both my hands through my hair, tilting my head back as I drew in a long, calming breath.
One of these days, I was going to make him proud of me. Now that I was here at the training center he used to head up, it was only a matter of time. I knew it. Waiting for it was going to be my motivation instead of my downfall.
At least when it came, I’d know it was because it was true and because I’d earned it. Until then, I was just going to have to suck it up. I wouldn’t let his lack of faith in me trip me up. Not now and not ever. I could do this. Whether he believed it or not.